Service providing system and method

ABSTRACT

A delivery service providing system includes an entrance and exit control unit, an identifier control unit, and a delivery service providing unit. The entrance and exit control unit inputs a ticket identifier of a user who has entered or exited a predetermined area and transmits the identifier to the identifier control unit. The identifier control unit registers the ticket identifier to a database and erases the ticket in case of exit. The identifier control unit receives an identifier set of a ticket identifier and a user&#39;s unit identifier from a user&#39;s unit, checks to judge whether an identifier set matching the received identifier set in the database. If the result is positive, the delivery service providing unit delivers digital contents to the user&#39;s unit. It then becomes possible to provide only the users existing in the area with the contents deliver service.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The present application claims priority from Japanese applicationJP2003-399906 filed on Nov. 28, 2003, the content of which is herebyincorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a technique to provide services tousers existing in a facility.

There has been proposed, for example, a service to deliver digitalcontents (to be simply referred to as contents hereinbelow) in a movingspace such as a train. In this case, such contents are received in aradio signal receivable range or by establishing connection to a wiredinterface disposed in the moving space (reference is to be made to, forexample, pages 4 to 6 and FIG. 1 of JP-A-2002-74015).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The technique described in JP-A-2002-74015 has a primarily objective toreceive digital contents only in a moving space. However, it isfavorable that the contents delivery service can also be received whilethe user is waiting for his or her train in station precincts. Ifcontents are delivered by radio communication in the station precincts,it is desirable to provide the contents to those who use the facilitiesof the station or the passenger without clearly discriminating thestation precincts from the external space of the station precincts forthe following reason. The contents can be received at any positionsoutside the station, an amusement part, or the like only if radio wavescan reach the positions.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a contentsdelivery service only for users existing in a facility.

Other objects of the present invention will be understood from thefollowing description.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda service providing system (to be referred to as a first providingsystem hereinbelow) including an entrance detecting unit for inputting aticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a user having entered apredetermined area and for transmitting the ticket identifier therefrom,an exit detecting unit for inputting the ticket identifier of the userwho is about to exit the predetermined area and for transmitting theticket identifier therefrom, an identifier control unit including anidentifier storage unit for receiving the ticket identifier transmittedfrom the entrance detecting unit and registering the ticket identifierto the identifier storage unit and for receiving the ticket identifiertransmitted from the exit detecting unit and erasing a ticket identifierfrom the identifier storage unit, the ticket identifier matching theticket identifier received from the exit detecting unit; a requestreceiving unit for receiving, from a user's unit having stored a ticketidentifier and a user's unit identifier, an identifier set of the ticketidentifier and the user's unit identifier and a contents request; anidentifier collating unit for making a check in response to the contentsrequest thus received, to determine whether or not an identifier setmatching the identifier set thus received exists in the identifierstorage unit, and outputting a result of the check; and a contentsdelivery unit for delivering, if the result of check is positive,predetermined digital contents or digital contents desired by the userand identified by the contents request to the user's unit.

In this connection, “ticket” may be a physical medium such as paper ormay be electronic data. The electronic data is stored in a portablestoring medium such as a card-type memory or an integrated circuit (IC)card. The portable storing medium may also be used as a ticket (theportable recording medium will be referred to as a ticket storing mediumhereinbelow).

“Ticket identifier (ID)” may be letters, numeric characters, othersymbols, a combination thereof, a bar code, an image, or the likeprinted on a physical medium. The ticket ID may also be electronic data.

The entrance detecting unit and the exit detecting unit may input theticket ID through an input of the ticket ID in response to a keyoperation by a human, by reading a bar code (ticket ID) by a bar-codereader, by shooting an image (ticket ID) by an image pickup or imagingdevice, or by reading the electronic data (ticket ID) through a contactor contactless reading operation of the ticket storing medium.

“Entered” may be a state in which, for example, the user is entering thefacility or is immediately after entering the facility or a state at anytiming until the user exits the facility.

“Exit” may be, for example, a state at any timing of the user until heor she exits the facility after he or she enters the facility or a statein which the user is immediately before exiting the facility, the useris exiting the facility, or the user is immediately after exiting thefacility.

“User's unit” may be any one of various communication devices which canbe utilized by the user. For example, a portable or cellular phone, apersonal handy phone system (PHS), or a personal digital assistant (PDA)may be employed.

The user's unit or unit may input the ticket identifier through an inputof the ticket ID in response to a key operation by a human, by reading abar code (ticket ID) by a bar-code reader, by shooting an image (ticketID) by an image pickup or imaging device, or by reading the electronicdata (ticket ID) through a contact or contactless reading operation ofthe ticket storing medium. The unit stores the ticket identifier in apredetermined storage (e.g., a memory or a hard disk).

“User's unit ID” is information to uniquely identify a user's unit andmay be, for example, information including at least one of a productionnumber, an e-mail address, and a cellular phone number.

“Digital contents” may include various contents such as letters andcharacters, a mobile picture, a still picture, voice and sound, or acombination thereof. When the first providing system includes a positiondetecting unit to detect a position of each of one or more user's unitsexisting in a predetermined area, the digital contents may be digitalcontents provided according to a result of the position detection, forexample, information indicating congested subareas of the predeterminedarea or information indicating a position of a user's unit of anotherperson specified by the user.

In a first favorable embodiment of the first providing system, theidentifier collating unit registers, when a matching ticket identifiermatching the ticket identifier thus received exists in the identifierstorage unit and a user's unit identifier matching the matching ticketidentifier does not exits in the identifier storage unit, the user'sunit identifier of the identifier set thus received to the identifierstorage unit with a correspondence established between the matchingticket identifier and the user's unit identifier and outputs a checkresult indicating a positive result therefrom.

In a second favorable embodiment of the first providing system, theidentifier storage unit includes one or more identifier set groupsregistered thereto, each of the ID set group including one or moreticket identifiers and/or user's unit identifiers, and the contentsdelivery unit delivers digital contents according to the ID set group.

In a third favorable embodiment of the first providing system, thesystem further includes an identifier receiving unit for receiving oneor more ticket identifiers and/or one or more user's unit identifiersfrom at least either one of an access point terminal distributed in thepredetermined area, the service user's unit, another informationprocessing terminal (e.g., a personal computer) which the user canutilize, and the ticket purchase receiving terminal issuing the ticketto which the ticket identifier is assigned; and a grouping unit forregistering group information (e.g., a group identifier generated)regarding a group including the ticket identifiers and/or the user'sunit identifiers received as above to the identifier storage unit. Inthis case, the contents delivery unit may deliver contents according tothe group information. For example, to deliver contents to a user'sunit, the contents delivery unit may deliver, according to a group towhich a ticket identifier and/or a user's unit identifier received fromthe user's unit belong/belongs, the same contents or different contentsassociated therewith to one or more other user's units respectivelyhaving stored one or more other ticket identifiers and/or user's unitidentifiers belonging to the group.

In a fourth favorable embodiment of the first providing system, thesystem further includes a communication disable control unit for settingthe user's unit, in a case in which the user's unit is capable ofcommunicating a call and/or data with an external unit, to a state inwhich the user's unit cannot conduct the call and/or the datacommunication, at predetermined timing after the user enters thepredetermined area. The communication disable control unit may bearranged in a user's unit or an external device outside the user's unit.“To set a state in which the user's unit cannot conduct the call and/orthe data communication” indicates that, for example, in the call, atleast one of the call issuance and the call reception becomesimpossible; and in the data communication, at least one of the datatransmission and the data reception becomes impossible. “The state inwhich the operations above are impossible” may indicate, for example, ina case of a user's unit such as a cellular phone to conduct a wirelesscall and/or wireless data communication, a state in which the user ismade to recognize that the user is virtually in an area outside acommunicable zone and hence cannot conduct the wireless call and/orwireless data communication. Or, the state may indicate a state inwhich, for example, reception of a call button and a data transmissionbutton is rejected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda service providing system (to be referred to as a second providingsystem hereinbelow) including an entrance detecting unit for inputting aticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a user having entered apredetermined area and transmitting the ticket identifier therefrom, anexit detecting unit for inputting the ticket identifier of the user whois about to exit the predetermined area and for transmitting the ticketidentifier therefrom, an identifier control unit for receiving theticket identifier transmitted from the entrance detecting unit andregistering the ticket identifier to an identifier storage unit and forreceiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the exit detecting unitand erasing a ticket identifier from the identifier storage unit, theticket identifier matching the ticket identifier received from the exitdetecting unit; a plurality of access point terminals distributed in thepredetermined area, a request receiving unit for receiving, via a firstone of the access point terminals from a user's unit having received andstored a ticket identifier, the ticket identifier and a contentsrequest; an identifier collating unit for making a check in response tothe contents request thus received, to determine whether or not a ticketidentifier matching the ticket identifier thus received exists in theidentifier storage unit, and outputting a result of the check; and acontents delivery unit for delivering, if the result of check ispositive, predetermined digital contents or digital contents desired bythe user and identified by the contents request via the first accesspoint terminal to the user's unit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda service providing system (to be referred to as a third providingsystem hereinbelow) including an entrance detecting unit for inputting aticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a user having entered apredetermined area and transmitting the ticket identifier therefrom, anexit detecting unit for inputting the ticket identifier of the user whois about to exit the predetermined area and for transmitting the ticketidentifier therefrom, an identifier control unit for receiving theticket identifier transmitted from the entrance detecting unit andregistering the ticket identifier to identifier storage unit and forreceiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the exit detecting unitand erasing a ticket identifier from the identifier storage unit, theticket identifier matching the ticket identifier received from the exitdetecting unit; an identifier receiving unit for receiving one or moreticket identifiers from at least either one of an access point terminaldistributed in the predetermined area, a service user's unit, anotherinformation processing terminal which the user can utilize, and a ticketpurchase receiving terminal issuing the ticket to which the ticketidentifier is assigned; a grouping unit for registering groupinformation regarding a group including the ticket identifiers receivedas above to the identifier storage unit, a request receiving unit forreceiving, from the user's unit having received and stored a ticketidentifier, the ticket identifier and a contents request; an identifiercollating unit for making a check in response to the contents requestthus received, to determine whether or not a ticket identifier matchingthe ticket identifier thus received exists in the identifier storageunit, and outputting a result of the check; and a contents delivery unitfor delivering, if the result of check is positive, predetermineddigital contents or digital contents desired by the user and identifiedby the contents request via the first access point terminal to theuser's unit, according to the group information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda service providing system (to be referred to as a fourth providingsystem hereinbelow) including an entrance detecting unit for inputting aticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a user having entered apredetermined area and for transmitting the ticket identifier therefrom,an exit detecting unit for inputting the ticket identifier of the userwho is about to exit the predetermined area and for transmitting theticket identifier therefrom, an identifier control unit for receivingthe ticket identifier transmitted from the entrance detecting unit andregistering the ticket identifier to identifier storage unit and forreceiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the exit detecting unitand erasing a ticket identifier from the identifier storage unit, theticket identifier matching the ticket identifier received from the exitdetecting unit; a request receiving unit for receiving, from a user'sunit having received and stored a ticket identifier, the ticketidentifier and a contents request; an identifier collating unit formaking a check in response to the contents request thus received, todetermine whether or not a ticket identifier matching the ticketidentifier thus received exists in the identifier storage unit, andoutputting a result of the check; and a contents delivery unit fordelivering, if the result of check is positive, predetermined digitalcontents or digital contents desired by the user and identified by thecontents request via the first access point terminal to the user's unit.The ticket identifier includes a ticket identifier type including anattribute of the ticket and/or an attribute regarding the userpossessing the ticket, and the contents delivery unit delivers digitalcontents according to the ticket identifier type to the user's unit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda service providing system including an entrance detecting unit fordetecting an event that a user enters a predetermined area and a user'sunit to be used by a user. When a ticket identifier is inputted to theentrance detecting unit and the user's unit possessing a predetermineduser's unit identifier transmits a contents request, only the user'sunit can receive the contents.

In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to prevent anyillegal use of useful contents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the overallconfiguration of a system including a first embodiment in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing configurations of respective units ofthe system of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an identifier controldatabase.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a delivery record database.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing a processing flow from when a userenters a predetermined facility to when the user exits the facility inthe first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram shown an example of a screen for the user of aservice user's unit to read the ticket identifier.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for the user of theentrance and exit control unit to conduct fee adjustment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram to explain primary sections of a secondembodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram to explain a second grouping method in a thirdembodiment according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, description will be given of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of the overall system including a firstembodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment, a delivery service providing system is configured. Inthe system, only when a user having a service user's unit 4 enters apredetermined facility (e.g., a building or a piece of land),predetermined digital contents or digital contents (to be referred to ascontents hereinbelow) desired by the user are sent to the service user'sunit 4. When the user exits the facility, predetermined contents orcontents desired by the user are not transmitted to the unit 4.

The delivery service providing system includes an entrance and exitcontrol unit 1, an ID control unit 2, and a delivery service providingunit 3. The units 1, 2, and 3 can communicate with each other via anetwork A and can communicate with other units 1, 2, and 3 via wired orradio communication.

The entrance and exit control unit 1 is a computer to control an eventin which the user enters the predetermined facility and an event inwhich the user exits the facility. Specifically, for example, when theuser enters the facility, the unit 1 reads a ticket identifier attachedonto a ticket 7 of the user through a contact or contactless readingoperation to thereby input the ticket ID. When the user exits thefacility, the unit 1 asks the user to conduct fee adjustment accordingto information of accounting associated with the ticket identifier.

The ID control unit 2 is a computer to control a ticket identifier (ID)and an identifier (to be referred to as “user's unit ID hereinbelow) ofthe service user's unit 4 using a database (to be referred to as “IDcontrol database hereinbelow). For example, when the user enters thefacility and the entrance and exit control unit 1 reads the ticketidentifier, the ID control unit 2 receives the ticket ID from the unit 1to register the ticket ID to the ID control database. The ID controlunit 2 receives an ID collation request together with the ticket ID andthe user's unit ID from the delivery service providing unit 3. The unit2 then collates, in response to the request, the ticket ID with anassociated ticket ID registered to the ID control database. When theuser exits the facility (or when the service providing operation isstopped as a result of the adjustment), the ID control unit 2 erases theticket ID registered as above from an ID control table (or,substantially erase the ticket ID by updating the status of the ticketID from “entered” to “exited”).

The delivery service providing unit 3 is a computer to deliver contents.The unit 3 stores contents and delivers predetermined contents orcontents desired by the user to the service user's unit 4 of the userhaving entered the predetermined facility. For example, when a contentsrequest is received together with the ticket ID and the user's unit IDvia a network B (e.g., a local area network (LAN) or the internet) 6from the service user's unit 4, the delivery service providing unit 3sends the collation request together with the ticket ID and the user'sunit ID to the ID control unit 2. The unit 3 receives a result of thecollation in response to the ID collation request. If it is recognizedaccording to the collation result that the ticket ID and the user's unitID are valid, the unit 3 delivers predetermined contents or contentsdesired by the user to the service user's unit 4 as the contents requestsource. On the other hand, if it is recognized that at least either oneof the ticket ID and the user's unit ID is invalid, the unit 3 deliversan error message, in place of the predetermined contents or the contentsdesired by the user, to the service user's unit 4.

The service user's unit 4 is an information processing terminal which isa portable unit for the user. The unit 4 stores a user's unit identifierunique to the unit 4. The unit 4 inputs a ticket ID assigned or attachedto a ticket, for example, by reading the ticket ID through a contact orcontactless reading operation and stores the ticket ID. According to anoperation by the user, the unit 4 transmits the ticket ID, the user'sunit ID beforehand stored, and a contents request to the deliveryservice providing unit 4. When contents are received in response to thecontents request, the service user's unit 4 outputs the contents in amethod corresponding to a type of the contents. For example, if thecontents are an image or text file, the unit 4 displays an image of atext stored in the file on a display screen. If the contents are acomputer program, the unit 4 executes the program to display a mobilepicture or the like.

Next, description will be given in detail of the overall system of theembodiment.

FIG. 2 shows configurations of the respective units of the entire systemof the embodiment.

The ticket 7 and the ticket ID assigned thereto can be issued at anytiming in an arbitrary way only if the delivery service providing systemrecognizes the ticket ID of the ticket 7 possessed by the user havingentered a predetermined facility.

That is, for example, the ticket 7 indicates the right for the user ofan entrance ticket or a railroad ticket to receive a predeterminedservice and may be a physical recording medium such as paper or anelectronic item to be stored in a predetermined storage. The storage maybe a portable storing medium (for example, a card-type memory such as anIC card) which can communicate with the service user's unit 4 and theentrance and exit control unit 1.

The ticket 7 may be issued to the user, for example, before the userenters the predetermined facility or when the user is going to enter thefacility.

When the ticket 7 is, for example, a physical recording medium such aspaper, the identifier may be a visible item such as numeric characters,symbols, a bar code, or an image printed on the medium. When the ticket7 is, for example, an electronic item, the ticket identifier may beelectronic data added to the ticket 7.

The entrance and exit control unit 1 includes a communication unit 11,an entrance and exit storage 13, a ticket ID reader 14, an adjustingunit 15, and a controller 12.

The communication unit 11 is a device to communicate via a network A 5with an external device, e.g., the ID control unit 2 or the deliveryservice providing unit 3. Specifically, the unit 11 is, for example, aradio transceiver including a radio antenna.

The entrance and exit storage 13 is a device including at least one of avolatile memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a nonvolatilememory such as a read only memory (ROM) or an electrically erasable andprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), and a hard disk. The unit 13 stores thereinan ID registration and erasure request processor 131 and a accountinginformation request processor 132. The processor 131 is a computerprogram to make a computer execute an operation to transmit a ticket IDand an ID registration request to the ID control unit 2. The processor132 is a computer program to make a computer execute operation to sendan accounting information request together with the ticket ID to thedelivery service providing unit 3.

The ticket ID input unit 14 is a device to input a ticket identifierattached to the ticket 7 to store the ticket ID in the entrance and exitstorage 13. Specifically, the unit 14 may be, for example, a bar-codereader to read a bar code (ticket ID) printed on the ticket 7 or adevice to read ticket ID from a portable recording medium having storedan electronic ticket.

The adjusting unit 15 is a device which requests, according to theaccounting information from the delivery service providing unit 3, theuser who is going to exit the facility to pay an amount for the contentsreceived by the user. The unit 15 conduct adjustment for the amountusing at least one of cash, electronic money, a credit card, and thelike.

The controller 12 is a device to control the overall operation of theentrance and exit control unit 1 and is, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU). For example, the controller 12 reads the IDregistration and erasure request processor 131 and the accountinginformation request processor 132 from the entrance and exit storage 13to send an ID registration or erasure request via the communication unit11 to the ID control unit 2 or to send an accounting information requestvia the communication unit 11 to the delivery service providing unit 3.

The ID control unit 2 includes a communication unit 21, an ID controland storage unit 23, and a controller 22.

The communication unit 21 is a device to communicate via the network A 5with an external device, e.g., the entrance and exit control unit 1 orthe delivery service providing unit 3. The unit 21 is, for example, aradio transceiver including a radio antenna.

The ID control and storage unit 23 is a device including at least one ofa volatile memory such as an RAM, a nonvolatile memory such as an ROM oran EEPROM, and a hard disk. The unit 23 includes a database processor232, a service interruption request processor 233, and an ID controldatabase 231.

The database processor 232 is a computer program to make a computerexecute various processing for the ID control database 231.

The service interruption request processor 233 is a computer program tomake a computer execute processing to send a service interruptionrequest, which will be described later, to the delivery serviceproviding unit 3.

The ID control database 231 is used to register thereto, for a pluralityof ticket identifiers, a plurality of user's unit identifiers, items ofentrance day and time, and items of exit day and time as shown in FIG.3.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, for example, a ticket ID erased or a ticketID not erased is registered to each cell of the ticket ID registrationcolumn 2311. “Erased” indicates that the user possessing the ticket IDhas already exited the facility. After the user exits the facility, theticket ID of the user may be completely erased or may remain with thestatus of “erased” as shown in FIG. 3. The item of the ticket ID is noterased in this case.

The cells of the unit ID registration column 2312 includes inassociation with a ticket identifier registered to the cell on theleft-hand side, for example, a user's unit ID erased, a user's unit IDnot erased, or a cell not registered. For the cell not registered, aticket identifier is registered to the cell on the left-hand side, but auser's unit ID corresponding thereto is not registered. The cell notregistered cell occurs after the ID control unit 2 receives a ticket IDfrom the entrance and exit control unit 1 if a contents request is notissued at all from the service user's unit 4 in which the ticket ID isstored. After the unit 4 issues a contents request together with theticket ID and the user's unit ID, the user's unit ID is registered tothe “registered cell not registered” in a processing flow, which will bedescribed in detail later.

An item of entrance day and time is registered to each cell of theentrance day and time registration column 2313 for an associated ticketidentifier.

For each ticket ID, the exit day and time is set to each cell of theexit day and time registration column 2314. However, for a ticket ID forwhich the entrance is detected but the exit is not detected, status dataindicating “entered” is set to the cell corresponding to the ticket ID.

Description will be given by referring again to FIG. 2.

The controller 22 of the ID control unit 2 is a device to control theoverall operation of the ID control unit 2 and is, for example, a CPU.For example, the controller 22 reads the database processor 232 and theservice interruption request processor 233 from the ID control andstorage unit 23 to execute registration or erasure processing for the IDcontrol database 231 and to transmit a service interruption request,which will be described later, to the delivery service providing unit 3.

The unit 3 includes a communication unit 31, a delivery service storage33, and a controller 32.

The communication unit 31 is a device to communicate via the network A 5with an external device (the entrance and exit control unit 1 or the IDcontrol unit 2). Specifically, the unit 31 is, for example, a radiotransceiver including a radio antenna.

The delivery service storage 33 is a device including at least one of avolatile memory such as an RAM, a nonvolatile memory such as an ROM oran EEPROM, and a hard disk. The unit 33 stores therein contents groups331, a contents delivery processor 332, a delivery record database 333,a database processor 334, and a contents price database 335.

The contents group 331 includes contents which the delivery serviceproviding unit 3 can deliver. The contents include contents identifierinformation so that the contents can be identified by the contentsidentifier information.

The contents delivery processor 332 is a computer program to make acomputer deliver contents.

For the respective ticket identifiers, the delivery record database 333stores therein user unit identifiers, items of delivery day and time,contents attribute information, and charged amount as shown in FIG. 4.

Each cell of the ticket ID registration column 3331 is used to registera ticket ID thereto as shown in FIG. 4.

Each cell of the unit ID registration column 3332 is used to register auser's unit identifier corresponding to a ticket identifier registeredto a cell on the left-hand side.

Each cell of the delivery day and time registration column 3333 is usedto register thereto the day and time at which contents are delivered toa service user's unit 4 storing the user's unit ID and the ticket ID onthe left-hand side. The delivery day and time recorded in each cell maybe updated to the latest record or may be additionally stored ashistorical data each time contents are delivered.

To each cell of the contents attribute registration columns 3334, thereis registered contents attribute information regarding attributes ofcontents delivered at the delivery day and time in the cell on the left.The contents attribute information includes, for example, a contentstype such as “movie” or “incoming melody” and contents identifierinformation, e.g., “no. 80” to identify the contents. The contentsattribute information is additionally recorded in the associated celleach time contents corresponding to the cell are delivered.

To each cell of a charged amount registration field 3335, an amountcharged for the contents delivered at the delivery day and time in thecell on the left is registered. The charged amount of contents isadditionally recorded in the cell each time contents corresponding tothe cell are delivered.

Referring again to FIG. 2, description will be given of operation of thesystem.

The database processor 334 of the delivery service providing unit 3 is acomputer program to make a computer execute various processing for thedelivery record database 333.

To the contents price database 335, the amount corresponding to eachcontents identifier information or a contents type of contents includedin the contents group 331 is registered.

The controller 32 is a device, for example, a CPU to control the overalloperation of the delivery service providing unit 3. For example, thecontroller 32 reads the contents delivery processor 332 and the databaseprocessor 232 from the contents service storage 33 to send contents tothe service user's unit 4 and to execute registration processing for thedelivery record database 333.

The service user's unit 4 includes a communication unit 41, a serviceuse storage 43, a ticket ID input unit 44, an input/output unit 45, anda controller 42.

The communication unit 41 is a device to communicate via a network B 6with an external device, e.g., the delivery service providing unit 3.The unit 41 is, for example, a radio transceiver including a radioantenna.

The service use storage 43 is a device including at least one of avolatile memory such as an RAM, a nonvolatile memory such as an ROM oran EEPROM, and a hard disk. The unit 43 stores therein a user's unit ID431 and a contents request processor 432. The user's unit ID 431 isinformation to uniquely identify a service user's unit 4 and includes,for example, at least one of a production number, an e-mail address, anda cellular phone number. The contents request processor 432 is acomputer program to make a computer execute an operation to transmit acontents request to the delivery service providing unit 3.

The ticket ID input unit 44 is a device to input a ticket identifierattached to the ticket 7 to store the identifier in the entrance andexit storage 13. Specifically, the unit 44 may be, for example, a deviceto input a ticket identifier according to a key operation by a human, bya bar-code reader to read a bar code (ticket ID) printed on the ticket7, or by a device to read ticket ID from a portable recording mediumhaving stored an electronic ticket.

The input/output unit 45 includes an input device including a pluralityof keys or the like to input codes of letters and numeric characters andan output device including a display screen to display an image andletters and characters, a speaker to produce sound and voice, and thelike.

FIG. 5 shows an outline of a processing flow from when a user enters apredetermined facility to when the user exits the facility in theembodiment. Description will now be given of the flow of the embodimentby referring to FIG. 5.

In the facility, there are disposed an entrance and exit gate, nowshown, and one or more entrance and exit control units 1 in theproximity of the gate.

The user possesses a physical ticket such as a paper ticket or anelectronic ticket (to be simply referred to as a ticket hereinbelow) 7stored in a portable storing medium, e.g., a card-type nonvolatilememory. The ticket 7 includes a ticket identifier assigned thereto.

To enter the facility, the user (or an employee of the facility) insertsor places the ticket 7 in or over a predetermined position of the unit 1to make the unit 1 read the ticket identifier of the ticket 7. Theticket ID input unit 14 of the unit 1 reads the ticket identifier fromthe ticket 7 (step S1) and makes the entrance and exit storage 13temporarily store the ticket ID. The controller 12 reads the ticketidentifier and transmits the ticket identifier and an ID registrationrequest (a request to register the ticket identifier) via thecommunication unit 11 to the ID control unit 2 (S2).

When the ID registration request and the ticket ID are received via thecommunication unit 21 from the entrance and exit control unit 1, thecontroller 12 of the ID control unit 2 resisters, in response to the IDregistration request, the ticket identifier to the ID control database231.

After the unit 1 reads the ticket identifier and the user enters thefacility, the ticket ID input unit 44 of the service user's unit 4receives, according to an operation of the user, an input of the ticketidentifier of the ticket 7 possessed by the user (e.g., through a keyoperation or a reading operation) and then stores the ticket ID in thestorage 43 (S3).

Thereafter, the controller 42 of the unit 4 accesses, according to anoperation of the user, the storage 43 to read therefrom the ticketidentifier stored in step S3 and the user's unit identifier beforehandstored and then sends the ticket ID, the user's unit ID, and a contentsrequest via the communication unit 41 to the delivery service providingunit 3 (S4). The contents request includes, for example, one or morecontents identifier information items respectively corresponding to oneor more contents selected from the contents group 331 using apredetermined graphical user interface (GUI) supplied from the unit 3.The contents request is issued to request delivery of contentsassociated with the contents identifier information items.

When the ticket ID, the user's unit ID, and the contents request arereceived via the communication unit 31 from the service user's unit 4,the controller 32 of the delivery service providing unit 3 sends theticket ID, the user's unit ID, and an ID collation request (a requestfor collation to determine whether or not the ticket ID and the user'sunit ID are valid) via the communication unit 31 to the ID control unit2 (S5). The controller 32 of the delivery service providing unit 3 alsoregisters a set of the ticket ID and the user's unit ID to the deliveryrecord database 333.

When the ticket ID, the user's unit ID, and the ID collation request arereceived via the communication unit 21 from the delivery serviceproviding unit 3, the controller 22 of the ID control unit 2 collatesthe ticket ID and the user's unit ID with a group of associatedinformation items recorded in the ID control database 231.

In a case in which the contents request sent in step S4 is the firstcontents request, the user's unit ID corresponding to the ticket ID hasnot been registered to the database 231 even if the ticket ID has beenregistered thereto as described above. When it is determined as a resultof the collation that the ticket ID (to be referred to as a matchingticket ID hereinbelow) matching the ticket ID received from the unit 3is registered to the database 231 and the user's unit ID correspondingto the matching ticket ID is not registered to the database 231, thecontroller 22 of the unit 2 establishes a correspondence between theuser's unit ID received from the unit 3 and the matching ticket ID andregisters the user's unit ID to the database 231. The controller 22 alsosends a collation result of the matching state (to be referred to ascollation result OK hereinbelow) to the delivery service providing unit3 (S6).

On the other hand, if the matching ticket ID is absent from the database231 or if the matching ticket is present but the user's unit IDcorresponding thereto does not match the user's unit ID received fromthe unit 3 as a result of the collation, the controller 22 of the unit 2sends a collation result of the mismatching state (to be referred to ascollation result NG hereinbelow) to the delivery service providing unit3 (S6).

When the collation result OK is received from the ID control unit 2, thecontroller 32 of the unit 3 sends, to the service user's unit (to bereferred to as a target user's unit hereinbelow) 4 as the source of thecontents request source received in step S4, one or more contentsrespectively identified by one or more contents identifier informationitems of the contents request received in step S4. According to thecontents identifier information items, the controller 32 obtains one ormore charged amount items respectively corresponding to the contentsfrom the contents price database 335. The controller 32 then registersthe charged amount items to the database 333 with a correspondenceestablished between the charged amount items and the ticket ID and theuser's unit ID of the target user's unit 4. The controller 32 alsoregisters contents attribute information items (e.g., contents types andcontents identifier information items) of the delivered contents to thedatabase 333 with a correspondence established between contentsattribute information items and the ticket ID and the user's unit ID ofthe target user's unit 4.

On the other hand, when the collation result NG is received from the IDcontrol unit 2, the controller 32 sends a predetermined error message tothe target user's unit 4 (or, does not transmit any information). Whenthe message is received, the controller 42 of the service user's unit 4displays on a display screen of the unit 4 the error message as shown inFIG. 6. This is an example in which the ticket 7 is a physical recordingmedium such as paper and the ticket ID is a bar code printed on themedium. The unit 4 includes a bar code reader as the ticket ID inputunit 44. According to an operation of the user, the unit 4 reads by thebar-code reader 4 the bar code (ticket ID) of the ticket 7. When thetransmit button 10 is depressed, the service user's unit 4 executes stepS4 (that is, transmits a contents request together with the ticket IDand the user's unit ID beforehand stored).

To exit the facility, the user (or an employee of the facility) insertsor places the ticket 7 in or over a predetermined position of the unit 1to make the unit 1 read the ticket ID of the ticket 7. The ticket IDinput unit 14 of the unit 1 reads the ticket ID from the ticket 7 (stepS8) and temporarily stores the ticket ID in the entrance and exitstorage 13. The controller 12 reads the ticket ID from the storage 13and transmits the ticket ID and an accounting information request to thedelivery service providing unit 3 (S9).

When the ticket ID and the accounting information request is received,the controller 32 of the unit 3 acquires a user's unit ID, a deliveryday and time item, contents attribute information, and a charged amountcorresponding to the ticket ID from the delivery record database 333 andthen transmits accounting information including the user's unit ID, thedelivery day and time item, the contents attribute information, and thecharged amount to the entrance and exit control unit 1 (S10).

According to the accounting information, the controller 12 of the unit 1displays a message (or produces sound and voice) of the charged amountof the accounting information to the user, for example, as shown in FIG.7. The user can pay the amount of money from the adjusting unit 15 ofthe unit 1 in various ways using, for example, cash, electronic money,and a credit card.

When the controller 2 of the unit 1 detects that the charged amount iscompletely paid, the controller 2 sends the ticket identifier read fromthe storage 13, the user's unit identifier of the received accountinginformation, and an ID erasure request to the ID control unit (S11).

When the ID erasure request is received, the controller 22 of the unit 2retrieves from the ID control database 231 a matching ticket identifierand a matching user's unit identifier matching respectively with theticket ID and the user's unit ID received together with the request. Thecontroller 22 then updates the statuses of the matching ticket ID andthe matching user's unit ID to “erased” (or completely deletes theitems) and then records an exit time and day item corresponding thereto.The controller 22 then sends the ticket ID and the user's unit ID, whichare erased as above, and a service interruption request to the deliveryservice providing unit 3.

When the service interruption request is received, the controller 32 ofthe unit 3 retrieves from the delivery record database 333 a matchingticket ID and a matching user's unit ID matching respectively with theticket ID and the user's unit ID received together with the serviceinterruption request. The controller 32 then updates the statuses of thematching ticket ID and the matching user's unit ID to “serviceinterrupted” (or completely deletes the items). As a result, when acontents request is received from a service user's unit 4 together withthe ticket ID and the user's unit ID from the service user's unit 4 ofthe user having exited the facility, since the ticket ID and the user'sunit ID are set to “service interrupted” in the database 333 (or aredeleted and not registered thereto), the delivery service providing unit3 cannot deliver contents to the service user's unit 4.

Description has been given of the first embodiment.

According to the first embodiment, a check is made to determine whetheror not the ticket ID and the user's unit ID received from the user'sunit are valid. In accordance with the check, even when an attempt ismade to receive contents by use of a ticket ID (an illegal ticket ID)illegally passes to some person outside the facility, it is quiteunlikely that the user's unit ID of the user's unit which utilizes theillegal ticket is regarded as valid. In consequence, it is possible toprevent an event in which the contents delivery service is illegallyused by any person outside the facility.

In the first embodiment, the entrance and exit control unit 1 inputs(e.g., reads) the ticket ID when the user enters the facility and whenthe user exits the facility. However, whether the ticket ID read by theunit 1 is obtained when the user enters or exits the facility can bedetermined in a predetermined method. For example, the entrance and exitcontrol unit 1 may be separated into an entrance control unit whichreads the ticket ID when the user enters the facility to issue an IDregistration request and an exit control unit which reads the ticket IDwhen the user exits the facility to issue an ID erasure request. It isalso possible that the entrance and exit control unit 1 includesinterfaces, which each receive the ticket ID, at positions respectivelycorresponding to the user's moving directions of when the user entersthe facility and when the user exists the facility. Thanks to theconfiguration, whether the user enters or exits the facility can bedetermined according to which one of the interfaces is used to receivethe ticket ID.

It is also possible that, for example, when a ticket 7 including aticket ID is purchased, a predetermined information processing terminalto issue the ticket 7 sends an ID registration request together with theticket ID to the ID control unit 2 such that the ticket ID is registeredto the ID control database 231. That is, the ticket ID of the ticket 7may be registered to the database 231 before the user enters thefacility. In this case, to prevent an event in which the ticket ID isillegally used to receive the contents delivery service, the ID controlunit 2 additionally sets a status of, for example, “not entered” to theID control database 231 for the pertinent ticket ID until the userenters the facility and the ticket ID is inputted to be delivered to theID control unit 2. Due to this operation, when an ID collation requestis received for the ticket identifier having the status “not entered”,the ID control unit sends “collation result NG” to the delivery serviceproviding unit 3.

For example, although the ID control unit 2 and the delivery serviceproviding unit 3 are separated from each other, the units 2 and 3 mayalso be implemented in one unit.

The user's unit identifier may be registered to the ID control database231 not only when the first contents request is issued but also atanother timing. For example, according to an operation by the user, theservice user's unit 4 may send the ticket identifier and the user's unitidentifier to the ID control unit 2 at timing desired by the user.

In accordance with the first embodiment, when the user enters thepredetermined facility, the ticket identifier assigned to the ticket 7is registered to the ID control database 231 of the ID control unit 2.Thereafter, until the user exits the facility, the ticket identifiersubstantially equal to the ticket identifier obtained from the ticket 7is kept registered to the database 2. Therefore, the service user's unit4 can receive contents desired by the user or predetermined contentsusing the ticket identifier as many times as desired by the user. Whenthe user exits the facility, the ticket identifier of the ticket 7 iserased from the ID control database 231. Therefore, even if the serviceuser's unit 4 issues a contents request together with the ticketidentifier obtained from the ticket 7, it is impossible to receive thecontents. It is hence guaranteed that the contents delivery service isprovided only to a user existing in the predetermined facility.

According to the first embodiment, a check is made to determine whetheror not the ticket identifier and the user's unit identifier are valid.Therefore, only one user's unit identifier corresponds to one ticketidentifier. It is hence possible to prevent an illegal ticket ID use inwhich one ticket identifier is illegally used by a plurality of usersfrom the respective service user's units 4.

In accordance with the first embodiment, when the user first receivesthe service (i.e., the service user's unit 4 first sends a contentsrequest), the user's unit identifier is not registered to the ID controlunit 2, and only the ticket identifier is collated. In the collation forthe first service use, the user's unit identifier is registered to theID control unit 2. At collation in a second and subsequent service uses,two identifiers (i.e., a set of the ticket identifier and user's unitidentifier) from the service user's unit 4 are collated. As a result,the service user's unit 4 which has first sent a contents requesttogether with a set of the ticket ID and user's unit ID can thereafterreceive contents until the user exits the facility.

Next, description will be given of a second embodiment of the presentinvention. The sections which are almost the same as those of the firstembodiment will not be described again or will be briefly described.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram to explain main sections of the secondembodiment.

In the second embodiment, to avoid the user's unit identifier and toprevent an illegal access from any position outside the predeterminedfacility, a plurality of access point terminals 100 are distributed inthe facility. Each access point terminal 100 is a communication repeaterfor communication between the service user's unit 4 and the deliveryservice providing unit 3. The terminal 100 includes a communication unit110, an access point storage 130, a user's unit interface 140, and acontroller 120.

The communication unit 110 is a device to communicate via the network A5 with an external device, e.g., the ID control unit 2 the deliveryservice providing unit 3. The unit 21 is, for example, a radiotransceiver including a radio antenna.

The access point storage 130 is a device including at least one of avolatile memory such as an RAM, a nonvolatile memory such as an ROM oran EEPROM, and a hard disk. The storage 130 stores an access pointidentifier, i.e., identifier information of the access point terminal100.

The user's unit interface 140 is an interface unit to communicate withthe service user's unit 4. The interface 140 communicates via a wiredcommunication system or a radio communication system e.g., a shortdistance wireless communication system such as an infrared raycommunication system or Bluetooth (registered trademark) with theservice user's unit 4.

The controller 120 is a device to control the overall operation of theaccess point terminal 100 and is, for example, a central processing unit(CPU). For example, the controller 120 controls communication with theservice user's unit 4 and communication with the delivery serviceproviding unit 3.

In the unit 3 of the second embodiment, subticket identifiers areassigned to respective contents in at least one contents group 331. Foreach contents group 331, a contents delivery sequence is recognizablystored in an order of subticket identifiers (e.g., the subticket IDsequence is registered for each content group 331 to the deliveryservice storage 33).

Although not shown, the delivery service storage 33 stores all accesspoint identifiers respectively corresponding to all access pointterminals 100 existing in the predetermined facility.

Referring now to FIG. 8, description will be given of an operation flowof the contents delivery service.

Although not shown, after the user enters the facility, the serviceuser's unit 4 first sends a ticket identifier obtained and stored inadvance and a contents request to an access point terminal 100 desiredby the user or a predetermined access point terminal 100. The terminal100 then transmits the ticket identifier, the contents request, and anaccess point identifier stored therein to the delivery service providingunit 3. The unit 3 sends the ticket identifier and a collation requestto the ID control unit 2. If “collation result OK” is received inresponse to the request, the unit 3 may send predetermined contents withanother identifier such as a subticket identifier relating to the ticketidentifier and an access point identifier beforehand assigned to thepredetermined contents or an access point identifier arbitrarilyobtained, to the access point terminal 100 as the contents requestsource. The terminal 100 transmits the predetermined contents, thesubticket identifier, and the access point identifier to the serviceuser's unit 4. The unit 4 receives and stores the predeterminedcontents, the subticket identifier, and the access point identifier inthe service use storage 43.

Thereafter, when the user conducts a predetermined operation from theaccess point terminal (to be referred to as a target access pointterminal hereinbelow) 100 corresponding to the access point identifierreceived from the terminal 100, the service user's unit 4 conductscommunication, for example, as below.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the controller 42 of the unit 4 sends acontents request (e.g., an answer when the contents are quiz contents),a subticket identifier, and an access point identifier via thecommunication unit 41 to the target access point terminal 100.

The controller 120 of the terminal 100 makes a check to determinewhether or not the access point ID received via the interface 140 fromthe unit 4 matches the access point ID stored in the access pointstorage 130. If a matching state is not obtained as a result of thecheck, the controller 120 sends a predetermined message (for example, amessage of “the terminal 100 cannot be used”) to the service user's unit4. If a matching state is obtained, the controller 120 sends thesubticket identifier, a content request, and the access point identifierstored therein via the communication unit 110 to the delivery serviceproviding unit 3.

When the items are received from the terminal 100, the controller 32 ofthe unit 3 operates in response to the contents request. According tothe subticket ID, the controller 32 obtains from the contents group 331contents having a predetermined subticket ID (for example, a subticketID next in the sequence of the received subticket ID). The controller 32also obtains, according to the received access point ID, a predeterminedaccess point ID (e.g., an access point ID next in the sequence to thereceived access point ID) from the delivery service storage 33. Thecontroller 32 then transmits the contents with the subticket ID and theaccess point ID via the communication unit 31 to the access pointterminal 100.

The controller 12 of the terminal 100 sends the contents with thepredetermined subticket ID and the access point ID via the interface 140to the service user's unit 4.

According to the second embodiment, the unit 4 can receive contents onlyby using the access point terminal 100 installed in the predeterminedfacility. Thanks to this restriction, an event in which the contentsdelivery service is illegally used from any place outside the facilitycan be prevented even without using the user's unit ID.

Also, according to second embodiment, other services can be provided.For example, by installing access point terminals in a plurality ofpositions in an amusement park, an adventure game can be enjoyed usingthe overall filed of the park. Specifically, there can be provided agame service as below. The user finds an answer of a quiz sent to his orher service user's unit 4. The user then sends the answer to an accesspoint terminal 100 identified by an access point ID. When the answer iscorrect, the user receives a next quiz and a next access point terminal100. By repeating this procedure, the user can successfully arrive at agoal.

Description has been given of the second embodiment.

In the second embodiment, the contents providing side (e.g., thedelivery service providing unit 3, the access pointer terminal 100, orthe ID control unit 2) may notify, together with an access point ID, aposition of an access point terminal 100 having the access point ID tothe user by characters or sound and voice.

The access point terminal 100 and the delivery service providing unit 3may be configured, for example, in one unit (i.e., the terminal 100 mayinclude the function of the unit 3).

The storage 33 of the unit 3 may store a plurality of access pointidentifiers respectively corresponding to a plurality of access pointterminals 100. When an access point ID is received from an access pointterminal 100, the delivery service providing unit 3 makes a check todetermine whether or not the storage 33 includes an access point IDmatching the access point ID received from the terminal 100. If apositive result is obtained, the unit 3 transmits contents to theterminal 100.

The access point terminal 100 and the delivery service providing unit 3(and the ID control unit 2) may be communicably connected via a leasedline to each other.

Next, description will be given of a third embodiment.

According to the third embodiment, at least in the first embodiment orthe second embodiment, at least the ticket identifiers or the user'sunit identifiers are classified into groups. Identifier groupinformation indicates, for each ticket identifier (and/or a user's unitidentifier), a group including the ticket. The ID group information isstored in a predetermined storage on the contents delivery side (e.g.,at least the ID control unit 2, the delivery service providing unit 3,or the access point terminal 100).

The unit 3 provides various services according to the ID groupinformation in the storage.

For example, when delivering first contents to a service user's unit 4having stored a ticket ID and/or a user's unit ID, the delivery serviceproviding unit 3 identifies one or more same-group ticket identifiersand/or one or more same-group user's unit identifiers belonging to thegroup of the ticket ID and/or the user's unit ID using the ID groupinformation. The unit 3 obtains contents substantially equal to thefirst contents and/or second contents related to the first contents fromthe delivery service storage 33 and sends these contents to one or moresame-group service user's units 4 respectively storing the same-groupticket IDs and/or the same-group user's unit IDs.

For example, the contents delivery side (e.g., the delivery serviceproviding unit 3) detects a position of each of one or more serviceuser's unit 4 existing in the facility and registers the position to apredetermined storage. At predetermined timing (e.g., periodically or atreception of a predetermined request from a service user's unit 4), thecontents delivery side (e.g., the unit 3) transmits to a predeterminedservice user's unit 4 (e.g., a unit 4 of the request source) detectedpositions of one or more service user's units 4 belonging to the groupof the unit 4. Thanks to this operation, a user having a predeterminedservice user's unit 4 can recognize, for example, positions of membersbelonging to the group of the user. In this case, if the ticket IDincludes, for example, a ticket ID type, which will be described later,it may also be possible to display the detected positions in variousdisplay modes (e.g., in various colors) according to the ticket IDtypes). For example, it is also possible when the type indicates thatthe user is an adult, the detected position is displayed in a firstcolor, and when the user is a child, the detected position is displayedin a second color.

The registration of ID group information, that is, the grouping ofticket identifiers and/or user's unit identifiers can be conducted invarious methods as below.

(1) First Grouping Method

The access point terminal 100 of the second embodiment receives one ormore same-group ticket identifiers and/or one or more same-group user'sunit identifiers directly or via a service user's unit 4. The terminalsends the identifiers to the ID control unit 2. The unit 2 assigns anarbitrary group identifier to the ticket identifiers and/or the user'sunit identifiers and then registers the identifiers to the ID controldatabase 231 with a correspondence established between the groupidentifier and the ticket identifiers and/or the user's unitidentifiers.

(2) Second Grouping Method

Referring now to FIG. 9, description will be given of the secondgrouping method.

A ticket purchase user's terminal 1000 installed in the neighborhood ofthe predetermined facility or at a position outside the facility carriesout the grouping operation. The terminal includes a communication unit1100, a controller 1200, a purchase storage 1300, and an input unit1400.

For example, the input unit 1400 receives an input of the number oftickets to be purchased and then registers the number of tickets to thestorage 1300.

The controller 1200 issues as many tickets as indicated by the number oftickets registered to the storage 1300 and assigns a ticket identifierto each of the tickets. The controller 1200 sends the assigned ticketidentifiers thus assigned to the associated tickets via thecommunication unit 1100 to the ID control unit 2.

When the ticket identifiers are received, the ID control unit 2 assignsa particular group identifier to the ticket identifiers and registersthe ticket identifiers to the ID control database 231 with acorrespondence established between the group identifier and the ticketidentifiers.

(3) Third Grouping Method

According to an operation by the user, a unit on the service user's side(e.g., a service user's unit 4 or a personal computer or the likeinstalled in the house of the user) accesses a unit on the contentsdelivery side (e.g., the ID control unit 2 or the delivery serviceproviding unit 3) before the user enters the facility (e.g., on a dayimmediately before the day on which the user enters the facility) toinput one or more ticket identifiers and/or user's unit identifiers tothe communicating unit. The ID control unit 2 assigns a particular groupidentifier to the ticket identifiers and/or the user's unit identifiersand registers these identifiers to the ID control database 231 with acorrespondence established between these identifiers and the groupidentifier. Thanks to the operation, when the user actually enters thefacility and the ticket identifier is sent from the entrance and exitcontrol unit 1 to the ID control unit 2, there is produced a group forone or more service user's units existing in the facility.

Description has been given of the third embodiment.

In the third embodiment, it may also be possible that, for example, theservice user's unit 4 or the access point terminal 100 receives one ormore new ticket identifiers and/or one or more new user's unitidentifiers to change the group configuration registered to the IDcontrol table 231.

For example, the group configuration (e.g., a group identifier) of oneor more ticket identifiers and/or user's unit identifiers may be alsoregistered to the delivery record database 333 in addition to the IDcontrol database 231. For this purpose, the ID control unit 2 or theservice user's unit 4 transmits one or more ticket identifiers and/oruser's unit identifiers to the delivery service providing unit 3. Theunit 3 assigns a particular group identifier to the ticket identifiersand/or user's unit identifiers and registers these identifiers to thedelivery record data base 333 with a correspondence established betweenthe identifiers and the group identifier.

Additionally, for example, to deliver contents to one or more serviceuser's unit 4, the delivery service providing unit 3 inquires a ticketidentifier of each of the units 4. When the ticket identifier isreceived from the unit 4 and the collation of the ticket identifierresults in “OK”, the unit 3 delivers the contents to the unit 4.

According to the third embodiment, since one or more ticket identifiersare classified into one group, the contents delivery service can beprovided in various modes.

Next, description will be given of a fourth embodiment.

In the fourth embodiment, when the service user's unit 4 is a devicecapable of making a call or of communicating data with an external unitand is in a predetermined facility, the call and/or the datacommunication become/becomes impossible under control of a computerprogram read by the controller 42 of the unit 4. In this connection,“the call and/or the data communication become/becomes impossible” isappreciated as below. For the call, either one or both of “to issue acall” and “to receive a call” becomes/become impossible. For the datacommunication, either one or both of “to send data” and “to receivedata” becomes/become impossible. The computer program may be inputtedfrom the entrance and exit control unit 1 or an external unit such as apredetermined web server or may be installed in the service user's unit4 in advance.

The call and/or the data communication become/becomes impossible, forexample, in the following cases.

-   (1) In a case in which the service user's unit 4 is communicable    with the entrance and exit control unit 1 via a short-distance    wireless communication system or the like, the situation above    occurs when the controller 42 of the unit 4 detects an event of    entrance of a user by conducting predetermined communication with    the unit 1.-   (2) The situation above takes place when a ticket identifier is    inputted to the service user's unit 4.

The state in which the call and/or the data communication become/becomesimpossible is changed to a state in which the call and/or the datacommunication become/becomes possible, for example, in the followingcase.

(A) In a case in which the service user's unit 4 is communicable withthe entrance and exit control unit 1 via a short-distance wirelesscommunication system or the like, the state change described aboveoccurs when the controller 42 of the unit 4 detects an event of exit ofa user by conducting predetermined communication with the unit 1 (inthis case, the controller 42 may erase the associated ticket identifierin the storage 43 of the unit 4).

According to the fourth embodiment, since the call and/or the datacommunication become/becomes impossible in the facility (e.g., a train),the call or data communication annoying other people will be prevented.Even when the call and/or the data communication become/becomesimpossible, there does not occur any considerable trouble for thefollowing reason. Only if the access point terminals 100 are distributedin the facility, operations such as operation to receive contents can beconducted by the terminals 100.

Description has been given of the fourth embodiment. In the fourthembodiment, even when the call and/or the data communicationbecome/becomes impossible, it may also be possible to allow theshort-length communication with the access point terminals 100.

Description will now be given of the fifth embodiment.

In the fifth embodiment, the ticket identifier includes a ticketidentifier type. The type includes, for example, a ticket attribute(e.g., an expiration time of ticket validity, adult/child, etc.) and/oran attribute of a user of the ticket (e.g., adult/child, sex, birthyear, month, and day; and/or address).

A ticket ID type/contents relation table is prepared in the storage of adevice on the contents delivery side (e.g., the ID control unit 2 or thedelivery service providing unit 3). Contents attributes (e.g., contentsidentifier information items) corresponding respectively to one or moreticket ID types are registered to the table.

The unit 3 delivers contents according to the ticket ID type included inthe ticket ID. For example, even when the collation result of the ticketID is “OK”, if there does not exist any correspondence between theattributes of the desired contents and the ticket ID type of the ticketID, the unit 3 does not deliver the contents. Or, the unit 3 deliverscontents which are related to the desired contents and which has anattribute corresponding to the ticket ID type. When a request forcontents indicating counters to sell alcohol is received and it isrecognized according to the ticket ID type that the user is minor-aged,the unit 3 delivers contents indicating counters to sell drinks otherthan alcohol.

Description has been given of the fifth embodiment.

In the fifth embodiment, for example, a ticket identifier which includesa ticket ID type and which the service user's unit 4 can store thereinto transmit therefrom may be updated (e.g., changed, added, or deleted),according to necessity. Specifically, for example, it is also possiblethat when the user inserts or places the ticket 7 in or over theentrance and exit control unit 1 to make the unit 1 communicate with theticket in a contacting or contactless way, the terminal 100 updates theticket ID assigned to the ticket. It is also possible, for example, thatwhen the user makes the service user's unit 4 communicate with theaccess point terminal 100, a particular ticket identifier is updated inthe storage 43 of the unit 4. By appropriately changing the ticketidentifier in the facility, the services which the user receives in thefacility can be changed.

According to the fifth embodiment, digital contents are deliveredaccording to the ticket ID type of the ticket identifier. Therefore, thecontents delivery service can be provided in various modes.

An example using a grouping method has been described in conjunctionwith the third embodiment. In this regard, the grouping may be conductedto obtain positional information of each user possessing a serviceuser's unit. Specifically, by using the global positioning system (GPS)or the like, positional information of a unit having a ticket ID or aunit ID grouped as above is presented on a displayed of the unit. Inthis configuration, it is easy to search for a missing child in a groupactivity and/or attractions can be enjoyed using a display for eachgroup. To guarantee protection of privacy, it is also possible toprevent the positional information from being displayed after the userexits the facility.

Also, it is possible that a plurality of unit identifiers are related toone ticket identifier or a plurality of ticket identifiers are relatedto one unit identifier. By relating one ticket identifier to a pluralityof unit identifiers, it is possible to implement, for example, familyreduction. By relating one unit identifier to a plurality of ticketidentifiers, it is possible to relate different services to each othereven when there are obtained, for example, ticket identifiers ofdifferent services.

There may be employed a configuration in which when a service user'sunit enters a predetermined area (e.g., a predetermined facility or aparticular area of the facility), an entrance and exit control unitinstalled in the particular area communicates with the service user'sunit such that the unit automatically turns its communication functionand its mail function off or sets these constituent components to amanner mode to receive a ticket identifier. This guaranteesimplementation of the manner-mode operation. By turning thecommunication function and the mail function off, the manner-modeoperation is conducted for a person using, for example, a pacemaker.This provides a service having high public morality. It is hencepossible to implement services in a hospital or the like.

There may also be constructed a configuration in which only when theuser passes a gate, the exit processing is automatically executed. Inthis case, it is not required for the user to manually conduct the exitprocessing. Without any troublesome operation, the user can execute theexit processing. For the side to control the ticket identifier and theunit identifier, this also makes it easier to conduct the controloperation.

While the present invention has been described with reference to severalillustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by thoseembodiments but only by the appended claims. The present invention canbe embodied in other various modes.

It should be further understood by those skilled in the art thatalthough the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of theinvention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. A service providing system, comprising: entrance detecting means forinputting a ticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a user havingentered a predetermined area and for transmitting a ticket identifiertherefrom; exit detecting means for inputting a ticket identifier of theuser who is exiting the predetermined area and for transmitting theticket identifier therefrom; identifier control means includingidentifier storage means for receiving the ticket identifier transmittedfrom the entrance detecting means and registering a validity of theticket identifier to the identifier storage means, and for receiving theticket identifier transmitted from the exit detecting means and erasinga validity of the ticket identifier from the identifier storage means;request receiving means for receiving, from a user's unit having storeda ticket identifier and a user's unit identifier and at anyuser-selected timing, an identifier set of the ticket identifier and theuser's unit identifier and a contents request, the user's unit beingassociated with the user respectively having a ticket whose identifierhas been registered in the identifier storage means; identifiercollating means for making a check in response to the contents requestthus received at the request receiving means, to determine whether ornot an identifier set matching the identifier set thus received existsin the identifier storage means, and outputting a result of the check;and contents delivery means for delivering, if the result of check ispositive, predetermined digital contents or digital contents desired bythe user and identified by the contents request to the user's unit, thedelivering being operable only within the predetermined area.
 2. Aservice providing system according to claim 1, wherein the identifiercollating means registers, when a matching ticket identifier matchingthe ticket identifier thus received exists in the identifier storagemeans and a user's unit identifier matching the matching ticketidentifier does not exits in the identifier storage means, the user'sunit identifier of the identifier set thus received to the identifierstorage means with a correspondence established between the matchingticket identifier and the user's unit identifier, and outputs a checkresult indicating a positive result therefrom.
 3. A service providingsystem according to claim 1, wherein: the identifier storage meansincludes one or more identifier set groups registered thereto, each ofthe ID set group including one or more ticket identifiers and/or user'sunit identifiers; and the contents delivery means delivers digitalcontents according to the ID set group.
 4. A service providing systemaccording to claim 3, further comprising: identifier receiving means forreceiving one or more ticket identifiers and/or one or more user's unitidentifiers from at least either one of an access point terminaldistributed in the predetermined area, the service user's unit, anotherinformation processing terminal which the user can utilize, and theticket purchase receiving terminal issuing the ticket to which theticket identifier is assigned; and grouping means for registering groupinformation regarding a group including the ticket identifiers and/orthe user's unit identifiers received as above to the identifier storagemeans.
 5. A service providing system according to claim 1, furtherincluding communication disable control means for setting the user'sunit, in a case in which the user's unit is capable of communicating acall and/or data with an external unit, to a state in which the user'sunit cannot conduct the call and/or the data communication, atpredetermined timing after the user enters the predetermined area.
 6. Aservice providing system according to claim 1, wherein the deliveringbeing operable at any user-selected timing within a service-providingperiod defined between registering the validity and erasing the validityof the ticket identifier to the identifier storage means.
 7. A serviceproviding system, comprising: entrance detecting means for inputting aticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a user having entered apredetermined area and transmitting the ticket identifier therefrom;exit detecting means for inputting the ticket identifier of the user whois exiting the predetermined area and for transmitting the ticketidentifier therefrom; identifier control means for receiving the ticketidentifier transmitted from the entrance detecting means and registeringa validity of the ticket identifier to identifier storage means, and forreceiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the exit detectingmeans and erasing a validity of the ticket identifier from theidentifier storage means; a plurality of access point terminalsdistributed in the predetermined area; request receiving means forreceiving, via a first one of the access point terminals from a user'sunit having received and stored a ticket identifier and at anyuser-selected timing, the ticket identifier and a contents request;identifier collating means for making a check in response to thecontents request thus received, to determine whether or not a ticketidentifier matching the ticket identifier thus received exists in theidentifier storage means, and outputting a result of the check; andcontents delivery means for delivering, if the result of check ispositive, predetermined digital contents or digital contents desired bythe user and identified by the contents request via the first accesspoint terminal to the user's unit, the delivering being operable onlywithin the predetermined area.
 8. A service providing system,comprising: entrance detecting means for inputting a ticket identifierassigned to a ticket of a user having entered a predetermined area andtransmitting the ticket identifier therefrom; exit detecting means forinputting the ticket identifier of the user who is exiting thepredetermined area and for transmitting the ticket identifier therefrom;identifier control means for receiving the ticket identifier transmittedfrom the entrance detecting means and registering a validity of theticket identifier to identifier storage means, and for receiving theticket identifier transmitted from the exit detecting means and erasinga validity of the ticket identifier from the identifier storage means;identifier receiving means for receiving one or more ticket identifiersfrom at least either one of an access point terminal distributed in thepredetermined area, a service user's unit, another informationprocessing terminal which the user can utilize, and a ticket purchasereceiving terminal issuing the ticket to which the ticket identifier isassigned; grouping means for registering group information regarding agroup including the ticket identifiers received as above to theidentifier storage means; request receiving means for receiving, fromthe service user's unit having received and stored a ticket identifierand at any user-selected timing, the ticket identifier and a contentsrequest; identifier collating means for making a check in response tothe contents request thus received, to determine whether or not a ticketidentifier matching the ticket identifier thus received exists in theidentifier storage means, and outputting a result of the check; andcontents delivery means for delivering, if the result of check ispositive, predetermined digital contents or digital contents desired bythe user and identified by the contents request via the first accesspoint terminal to the user's unit, according to the group information,the delivering being operable only within the predetermined area.
 9. Aservice providing system, comprising: entrance detecting means forinputting a ticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a user havingentered a predetermined area and for transmitting the ticket identifiertherefrom; exit detecting means for inputting the ticket identifier ofthe user who is exiting the predetermined area and for transmitting theticket identifier therefrom; identifier control means for receiving theticket identifier transmitted from the entrance detecting means andregistering a validity of the ticket identifier to identifier storagemeans, and for receiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the exitdetecting means and erasing a validity of the ticket identifier from theidentifier storage means; request receiving means for receiving, from auser's unit having received and stored a ticket identifier and at anyuser-selected timing, the ticket identifier and a contents request;identifier collating means for making a check in response to thecontents request thus received, to determine whether or not a ticketidentifier matching the ticket identifier thus received exists in theidentifier storage means, and outputting a result of the check; andcontents delivery means for delivering, if the result of check ispositive, predetermined digital contents or digital contents desired bythe user and identified by the contents request via the first accesspoint terminal to the user's unit, the delivering being operable onlywithin the predetermined area, wherein: the ticket identifier includes aticket identifier type including an attribute of the ticket and/or anattribute regarding the user possessing the ticket; and the contentsdelivery means delivers digital contents according to the ticketidentifier type to the user's unit.
 10. A service providing method ofcomprising: inputting a ticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a userhaving entered a predetermined area and transmitting the ticketidentifier therefrom; inputting the ticket identifier of the user who isexiting the predetermined area and transmitting the ticket identifiertherefrom; receiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the entrancedetecting means at the entrance and registering a validity of the ticketidentifier to identifier storage means; receiving the ticket identifiertransmitted from the exit detecting means at the exit and erasing avalidity of the ticket identifier from the identifier storage means;receiving, from a user's unit having stored a ticket identifier and auser's unit identifier and at any user-selected timing, an identifierset of the ticket identifier and the user's unit identifier and acontents request; making a check in response to the contents requestreceived in the preceding step, to determine whether or not anidentifier set matching the identifier set received in the precedingstep exists in the identifier storage means, and outputting a result ofthe check; and delivering, if the result of check is positive,predetermined digital contents or digital contents desired by the userand identified by the contents request to the user's unit, thedelivering being operable only within the predetermined area.
 11. Aservice providing method comprising: inputting a ticket identifierassigned to a ticket of a user having entered a predetermined area andtransmitting the ticket identifier therefrom; inputting the ticketidentifier of the user who is exiting the predetermined area andtransmitting the ticket identifier therefrom; receiving the ticketidentifier transmitted from the entrance detecting means and registeringa validity of the ticket identifier to identifier storage means;receiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the exit detectingmeans and erasing a validity of the ticket identifier from theidentifier storage means; receiving, via a first one of a plurality ofaccess point terminals distributed in the predetermined area from auser's unit having received and stored a ticket identifier and at anyuser-selected timing, the ticket identifier and a contents request;making a check in response to the contents request received in thepreceding step, to determine whether or not a ticket identifier matchingthe ticket identifier received in the preceding step exists in theidentifier storage means, and outputting a result of the check; anddelivering, if the result of check is positive, predetermined digitalcontents or digital contents desired by the user and identified by thecontents request via the first access point terminal to the user's unit,the delivering being operable only within the predetermined area.
 12. Aservice providing method according to claim 11, wherein the deliveringbeing operable at any user-selected timing within a service-providingperiod defined between registering the validity and erasing the validityof the ticket identifier to the identifier storage means.
 13. A serviceproviding method, comprising: inputting a ticket identifier assigned toa ticket of a user having entered a predetermined area and transmittingthe ticket identifier therefrom; inputting the ticket identifier of theuser who is exiting the predetermined area and transmitting the ticketidentifier therefrom; receiving the ticket identifier transmitted fromthe entrance detecting means and registering a validity of the ticketidentifier to identifier storage means; receiving the ticket identifiertransmitted from the exit detecting means and erasing a validity of theticket identifier from the identifier storage means; receiving one ormore ticket identifiers from at least either one of an access pointterminal distributed in the predetermined area, a service user's unit,another information processing terminal which the user can utilize, anda ticket purchase receiving terminal issuing the ticket to which theticket identifier is assigned; and registering group informationregarding a group including the ticket identifiers received as above tothe identifier storage means; receiving, from the service user's unithaving received and stored a ticket identifier and at any user-selectedtiming, the ticket identifier and a contents request; making a check inresponse to the contents request received in the preceding step, todetermine whether or not a ticket identifier matching the ticketidentifier received in the preceding step exists in the identifierstorage means, and outputting a result of the check; and delivering, ifthe result of check is positive, predetermined digital contents ordigital contents desired by the user and identified by the contentsrequest via the first access point terminal to the user's unit,according to the group information, the delivering being operable onlywithin the predetermined area.
 14. A service providing method,comprising: inputting a ticket identifier assigned to a ticket of a userhaving entered a predetermined area and transmitting the ticketidentifier therefrom; inputting the ticket identifier of the user who isexiting the predetermined area and transmitting the ticket identifiertherefrom; receiving the ticket identifier transmitted from the entrancedetecting means and registering a validity of the ticket identifier toidentifier storage means; receiving the ticket identifier transmittedfrom the exit detecting means and erasing a validity of the ticketidentifier from the identifier storage means; receiving, from a user'sunit having received and stored a ticket identifier and at anyuser-selected timing, the ticket identifier and a contents request;making a check in response to the contents request received in thepreceding step, to determine whether or not a ticket identifier matchingthe ticket identifier received in the preceding step exists in theidentifier storage means, and outputting a result of the check; anddelivering, if the result of check is positive, predetermined digitalcontents or digital contents desired by the user and identified by thecontents request via the first access point terminal to the user's unit,the delivering being operable only within the predetermined area,wherein: the ticket identifier includes a ticket identifier typeincluding an attribute of the ticket and/or an attribute regarding theuser possessing the ticket; and the contents delivery means deliversdigital contents according to the ticket identifier type to the user'sunit.
 15. A service providing system, comprising: entrance detectingmeans for inputting a first ticket identifier assigned to a ticket of auser having entered a predetermined area and for transmitting the firstticket identifier therefrom; exit detecting means for inputting a secondticket identifier of the user who is exiting the predetermined area andfor transmitting the second ticket identifier therefrom; identifiercontrol means including identifier storage means for receiving the firstticket identifier transmitted from the entrance detecting means andregistering a validity of the first ticket identifier to the identifierstorage means, and for receiving the second ticket identifiertransmitted from the exit detecting means and erasing a validity of thefirst ticket identifier from the identifier storage means if the firstticket identifier matches the second ticket identifier; requestreceiving means for receiving, from a user's unit having stored thefirst ticket identifier and a user's unit identifier and at anyuser-selected timing, an identifier set of the ticket identifier and theuser's unit identifier and a contents request; identifier collatingmeans for making a check in response to the contents request thusreceived, to judge whether or not an identifier set matching theidentifier set thus received exists in the identifier storage means, andoutputting a result of the check; and contents delivery means fordelivering, if the result of check is positive, predetermined digitalcontents according to both the user and the contents request to theuser's unit, the delivering being operable only within the predeterminedarea.